Tender Game
by Jay-spelll
Summary: "sometimes, in order to live again, you have to die, first." in which lucy hopes, natsu lies, and at the end, they were both sorry.
1. Tender Game (1)

**_TENDER GAME  
_** ** _by Jay-spelll_**

DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Fairy Tail**. Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima, and are not my intellectual property. There is **no financial gain** made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Jay-spelll. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the writer, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to Jay-spelll.

 **PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LOWER-CASE IS INTENTIONAL**

 _I would suggest reading this on – it looks a lot better when it comes to being visually pleasing. My username is Jay-spell._

I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! ;3

Xoxo,  
Jay-spell

* * *

Chapter ONE  
of Tender Game

* * *

 **[2 years ago]**

she sits on a stool in front of the counter, slouching, head bowed down and face expressionless. with a lost look in her eyes, she pulls out a ten-dollar bill and slams it on the counter. she knows she shouldn't do it: but once again, she was going to drink her problems away.

without looking directly at the middle-aged bartender, the blonde orders. "the usual, please."

"of course," replies the bartender, no questions asked. they did this every other night; by now, he learned to simply get her what she asks for. that's why this place is lucy's favorite. no one bothered her here.

as the bartender goes to get her glass of vodka, lucy closes her eyes.

she's just so damn tired.

she wonders what she did to deserve this – did she do something wrong? or does fate simply love to see how much she can take until she finally breaks.

the blonde inhales a deep breath, and when she opens her eyes, she sees a male sitting besides her. looking at him from her peripheral vision, she vaguely recognizes him; it's the pink-haired man that was, like her, a regular customer.

not paying much mind to him, she looks ahead once more, waiting patiently for her drink. only seconds later, the bartender places it on the space in front of her, and she grabs it, murmuring a small, "thanks."

about thirty minutes pass, and slowly, lucy is done with her first glass. warmth courses through her veins, and a sensation of relaxation falls upon her body. she honestly doesn't care about what people think anymore – she just keeps on drinking.

the world finally seems to stop moving.

however, from the corner of her eye, she see's the pink-haired man staring at her intently. lucy can easily tell that he is drunk.

after a few minutes, she decides to confront him. "can i help you?" she says, looking him dead in the eyes.

the man seems unfazed. "nope."

lucy deadpans. "then why the hell are you staring at me?"

he shrugs. "i have nothing else to do, so i might as well stare at a pretty lady," he replies cockily.

the blonde's cheeks heat up, as she suppresses a small smile. "well that was pretty straight-foreword."

he smirks. "i guess so," the pink haired man replies.

she stares into his eyes – they shine like honey through whiskey.

"the name's natsu," he introduces himself.

she looks at him, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. "i'm lucy."

* * *

Written: Monday, 15th August, 2016


	2. Tender Game (2)

Chapter TWO  
of Tender Game

* * *

 **[1 year ago]**

he walks into the club, a cigarette in one hand, and a bottle of vodka in the other. with each heavy stride he takes, his hair ruffles with the wind blowing at him full-force. he sees a man he recognizes as his polar opposite, worst enemy and, although he wouldn't admit it, best friend.

"gray, you bastard." he scoffs.

the black-haired man was with another woman. _once again._

unbelievable.

as soon as natsu's presence gets noticed, he stops talking to the girl – who natsu doesn't recognize – and says, "i'll get back to you in a minute." his eyes land on the pink-haired man, and the unknown blonde walks away, a flirtatious look on her face.

"what the hell is _juvia_ gonna think?"

"none of your damn business, dragneel." gray's face hardens.

natsu raises his hands in fake surrender, "jeez, chill dude."

gray looks at him for a second, and then sighs, pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. he offers one to natsu, who gladly accepts.

"i got your texts," says natsu. "so what do you need?" usually, the two would get into a fight by now. but they were simply too overwhelmed to get into their childish shenanigans at the moment.

"i need you to get me a new dealer. my old one got caught and arrested."

"...and why would i do that?"

gray smirks, "if you give me your dealer's number, i'll get you a hot lap dance from _that_ chick," he points to a stripper on the stage.

natsu rolls his eyes, "no thanks. a glass of whiskey will do."

the black-haired man shrugs his shoulders, "suit yourself."

* * *

natsu stumbles down the steps, a wide grin on his face. it was half past midnight, and he was already out of it.

when he finally gets near the street, a taxi pulls over – he supposes it's the one gray called for him. getting in, he tells the driver where he needs to go, and closes his eyes.

only a few minutes later, natsu jumps up as the vehicle comes to a sudden halt. realizing that he was outside his apartment building, he pays the man and leaves, walking into the complex.

the first thing he hears when he enters his apartment is shouting.

"where the hell were you?!" lucy yells, at the top of her lungs, "it's already 1:00 am, and you didn't answer any of my texts, calls, voicemails—"

natsu groans, covering his ears. _not this shit again..._

"do you know how worried i got?! i thought you were mugged or something! i was going to call the polic—!"

"shut up, you _whore_." at the moment, he had no regrets.

lucy's eyes widen, but her face quickly morphs into and expression of anger. "what did you just call me?" she dares him to say it again, following him into their room.

he accepts her dangerous challenge as he shuffles through his drawer, looking for something. "i called you a _whore_ ," he repeats, as if the words were nothing.

the blonde finally snaps. "that's it!" she exclaims, frustrated and mad. she goes to her closet and begins to grab her clothes. she starts to stuff them into a backpack.

natsu spins around, and fire engulfs his eyes. "what the fvck do you think you're doing?" he says in a dangerously low tone, as he stomps over to lucy.

she quickly swings the bag over her shoulder, "i'm leaving you!"

he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "no, you aint!"

she rages onwards, as if she didn't listen to a word he just said.

"come back!"

she still doesn't respond.

finally, he stomps to her, getting pushed over the edge. he grabs her wrist violently, "don't you dare!" he screams.

lucy reaches the final straw, and does something she'll regret for the rest of her life.

she slaps him. real hard. right across the face.

as soon as her hand comes in contact with his soft skin, she instantly regrets it. she knows it wasn't right – but she was just so _angry_. natsu's been coming home drunk every night; she finally reached her breaking point.

but that didn't make things any better.

she _hurt_ him. she _hurt_ the one person she cared about most.

for a moment, natsu is left in shock. he doesn't believe that just happened; but the sting on his left cheek tells him otherwise.

anger quickly fills his body, as he goes full-on. pining her up against the wall, the blonde screeches, not excepting that. balling up his fist, his hand was so close to her face – luckily, lucy shifted her head quickly, and he punched the wall, creating a huge hole in it.

that's the first time they ever laid their hands on each other.

* * *

Written: Friday, 19th August, 2016


	3. Tender Game (3)

Chapter THREE  
of Tender Game

* * *

 **[6 months ago]**

 _his vision was blurry, and he didn't know why._

 _he was driving a car, too fast. a part of him knew that he should stop – that this was dangerous. but he didn't listen to his subconscious. nor to the screams of the girl next to him._

 _"natsu, slow down!" exclaimed lisanna, who was beyond terrified._

 _the pink-haired man slurred his words, "don't worry, baby. nothing'll happen."_

 _he pressed on the gas pedal harder; just to prove a point._

 _"stop! you'll kill us both!" at this point, lisanna was screaming at the top of her lungs._

 _then it happened._

 _a truck appeared out of nowhere, blowing the horn as soon as the driver noticed the car ahead. but the mass of the vehicle prevented it from having an abrupt stop, and natsu was too drunk to suddenly hit the emergency break._

 _it was too late._

 _they collided._

 _the last thing he heard was the sound of her screams, and then a ringing in his ears. before passing out, he looked at the passenger seat to see blood trickling down his lover's forehead._

 _then he blacked out._

the pink-haired man's eyes shot open.

every once in a while, natsu found himself waking up in the middle of the night, with ragged breaths and and a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

it happens to be one of those nights. he can't get any sleep – the nightmares wont leave him alone. all natsu wants is a decent amount of rest, but since that life-scarring event over two years ago, nothing could stop the nightmares.

he wakes up with sweat on his forehead, heavy breaths and lucy in his arms.

but he isn't sad. his heart just aches and tears stroll down his cheeks, but he isn't sad.

he's guilty.

natsu wishes he could turn back time, and change his mistake.

change that one bad decision.

* * *

lucy always feels the sadness radiating off him, but can never get him to tell her why he is hurting so much.

although she spilled all her misfortunes to him a long time ago – speaking about how her father never cared for her, and how her mother died of cancer when she was only eight – he still wouldn't tell her.

a part of her feels like she's the only one who truly tries to love in their relationship, and he couldn't seem to reciprocate her feelings.

lucy isn't sure about this anymore. how can a relationship work when there is no trust? the two of them are already dysfunctional as it is. all she wishes is that natsu would tell her what he's feeling, so she could at least try to share his pain.

that's what you do in a relationship; you carry the other's burdens.

* * *

"i want to spend the rest of my life with you, luce."

she stares at natsu as he gets on one knee, a bright smile on his face. he rarely ever smiles, lucy notes. but his occasional smile is what she lives for.

a wide grin crawls up her lips, as she gasps. it is just how she imagined it; at the park, having a picnic, where they went on their first date.

"will you marry me?" he says, showcasing a beautiful ring.

all of her doubts suddenly go away somehow.

how could she say no?

the blonde's eyes sparkle, as she gives him a tight hug.

"of course!" she exclaims. _she's so damn happy._

but they're natsu and lucy, and they can never be happy for too long. still lucy hoped, natsu lied, and at the end, they were both sorry.

* * *

 **some chapters are short, others are longer. really depends.**

Written: Friday, 2nd September, 2016


	4. Tender Game (4)

Chapter FOUR  
of Tender Game

* * *

 **[3 months ago]**

it's happening again.

for months, the two have been happy. lucy's been planning the wedding, while natsu's been job-hunting. he finally decides that it is time to get a well-paying job – he's going to have a family soon, after all.

natsu hasn't been drinking that much, either. although he hasn't quit, he did take it down a notch. he no longer comes home completely intoxicated.

however, one morning at about 5:00 am, the pink-haired man wakes up with a sick feeling in his stomach.

it's lisanna's birthday today.

although he knew that the day was coming near, he hadn't thought much about it. but now that the it was time, realization decided to slap him hard across the face.

* * *

lucy wakes up early in the morning. when she looks to her side, however, she doesn't see natsu.

immediately, she looks around the bedroom. he isn't there.

getting up, the blonde searches for him inside their apartment, but he's nowhere to be found. she comes back into her bedroom, and sees his phone on the night stand. a tiny piece of paper is placed near it.

 ** _don't worry. i'm fine._**

* * *

natsu stands in front of the gravestone. it's pouring, but despite the weather, he decided to show up in a thin jumper, the hood barely covering his head. he's completely soaked.

at the moment, he feels nothing – almost numb to the pain that _should_ be attacking his heart.

then suddenly, realization strikes him.

 _she's dead..._

 _and it's all his fault._

he cries. and natsu never cries.

* * *

she sat in the living room. it was already nighttime – she'd usually be asleep by now. but lucy could _never_ sleep properly without knowing whether or whether not natsu was alright. so she waited, as per usual.

when the door swung open, the blonde sees an oh-so-familiar scene. he was drunk, and she was mad.

"what the hell, natsu!" she screams.

he blatantly ignores her, stumbling into the house, soaking wet.

lucy jumps to her feet, "why would you do this to yourself?! again, even after everything was going great?!"

once again, natsu disregards her presence. he doesn't even look at her as he walks to their bedroom.

the blonde's had enough. she stomps towards him and grabs his shoulder. she subconsciously knows that it was happening... _again_. but she isn't thinking. she spins him around, "listen to me when i'm trying to speak!"

however, as soon as she sees his face, her heart shatters into a million pieces.

he cried. although he wasn't anymore, the tear-stains are obvious.

he looks so... dead on the inside.

lucy's shocked for a moment. she doesn't know how to react to this – natsu's never let his walls down. ever. so she went with her instinct, her hand reaching up to stroke his face. "natsu..." she whispers.

and once again, he breaks.

that night, instead of fighting, he told about that night – about how he met lisanna in university, about how he got drunk after graduation, and how he crashed into that truck.

and lucy was finally able to carry his burden.

* * *

the two wake up on the couch, both of them exhausted, despite the fact that it was already the afternoon.

they are silent. after their heart-to-heart discussion the previous night, all they wanted was for the atmosphere to be calm. perhaps it was time to simply enjoy the other's company.

however, as they ate breakfast, lucy tells him something that she was thinking about the night before. "i think we should go to therapy," she says suddenly.

natsu stops playing with his food and looks up. "no," he says bluntly, "that's a stupid idea—"

the blonde cuts him off, "it worked for gray and juvia, didn't it?"

and it did indeed work for them. they went to couple's therapy, and things changed drastically after the first session – in a good way, of course.

she looks at him, eyes pleading. "please, natsu..." she says. "if we want this to work, we've got to try. or else you'll end up loosing me, too.

the pink-haired man finally agrees (although, very doubtfully), and was later grateful he did.

after those sessions, everything changed. they were finally happy.

* * *

 **one more chapter yay! the last chapter is like an epilogue.**

Written: Saturday, 3rd September, 2016


	5. Tender Game (5)

Chapter FIVE  
of Tender Game

* * *

 **[present time]**

sometimes, in order to live again, you have to die, first.

that's what natsu discovered. after everything he went through – from that regretful night, to meeting lucy, to being depressed, to finally being free – he is _happy_.

 _she_ makes him happy.

as lucy walks down the aisle, she smiles widely. never has she been this joyful before. although her mother wasn't here, her father showed up. _only for her._

the pink-haired man smiles at his soon-to-be wife. she looks gorgeous.

after the first day of therapy, things changed greatly for natsu and lucy. he was put on medicine, as well as sent to rehab. but at the end of the day, they were grateful.

neither of them have touched alcohol since then.

as the orchestra played the music, lucy gets closer to her lover. her father lets go of her hand, smiling lightly.

she stands in front of natsu, eyes glimmering.

"do you, natsu draganeel, take this woman, lucy heartfilia, to be your lawfully wedded wife until death do you part?"

he exhaled, grinning, "i do."

"do you, lucy heartfilia, take this man, natsu draganeel, to be your lawfully wedded husband until death do you part?"

 _"i do."_

* * *

 **yay last chapter! if any of you have ever read my other books, you'd realize that I'm a sucker for weddings XD**

 **how was this book?**

Written: Saturday, 3rd September, 2016


End file.
